Did you know that in 2023, the Tesla Model Y and the Tesla Model 3 were the two best-selling electric cars in Canada (Model Y: 29,582 units; Model 3: 29,122 units)? When it comes to electric vehicles, there's no denying that Tesla has made a name for itself in Quebec. However, not everyone who wants to drive an electric car wants to do so with the American brand. With this in mind, Volvo has...
Polestar becomes a full-fledged brand of electrified sports cars
Volvo Cars announces today that Polestar, in its high-performance department, will become independent to produce electrified sports cars the future.
In order to drive the growth of this new brand, Volvo Cars also announces that Thomas Ingenlath, Senior Vice President of Volvo Design, has been appointed CEO of Polestar. Mr. Ingenlath is the inspiration behind Volvo's renaissance of design in recent years, a design that has been crowned with numerous awards.
"The fact that Thomas takes the reins of Polestar is a testament to our commitment to the emergence of a truly autonomous and differentiating brand within Volvo Car Group," said Håkan Samuelsson, President and CEO of Volvo Cars.
Thomas Ingenlath will be joined at Polestar by Jonathan Goodman, COO (Chief Operating Officer) of the brand. Mr. Goodman will be leaving his current position as Senior Vice President Corporate Communications for Volvo Cars.
"With 25 years of commercial experience in the automotive industry, Jonathan has the ideal profile to make a valuable operational contribution, complementing Tom's visionary talents, and relying on a seasoned management team to bring Polestar to the top, " said Mr Samuelsson.
"Polestar promises to be a credible competitor in the emerging global market for high-performance electrified vehicles. With Polestar, we will be able to offer electrified vehicles to the most daring and demanding drivers in all segments of the market. "
Volvo Cars, which acquired 100% of Polestar Performance in July 2015, has been working with the brand in car racing since 1996. Polestar's ambition is to market Polestar cars without the Volvo logo while continuing to offer model optimization of the Swedish manufacturer under the brand name "Polestar Engineered".
Polestar will benefit from synergies with Volvo Cars in terms of technology and engineering, which will enable it to achieve significant economies of scale. These synergies will facilitate the design, development and construction of world-class, high-performance electrified vehicles.
Polestar No.1: first vehicle produced by Polestar
Today October 17, 2017, the Polestar No 1 was unveiled. Jewel of the automotive industry, this vehicle is at the forefront of electrical technology.
This Polestar No 1 will benefit from all the work done on the electric motor to offer a real UFO: hybrid car with of 600 horsepower for a torque of 1000 Nm! Demonic performance for a vehicle that displays at the same time 150 km of autonomy in 100% electric.
Using the Scalable Platform Architecture (SPA) of Volvo, this Polestar No.1 will be awarded with several high-performance equipments such as Öhlins shock absorbers or Akebono 6-piston brakes to brake this Polestar 1. Adaptive dampers that will be installed for the first time on a standard car.
In terms of performance always, the Polestar 1 will also have a system for transferring power to the outside in turns. A mechanism that will allow this No 1 to wind turns and thus increase its performance in sinuous parts. The general frame would also be made with several pieces of carbon fiber to reduce the overall weight.
Production of this Polestar 1 is expected to begin in 2019. It will be in a brand new factory in China. This plant will also offer a circuit where customers can directly try this new Polestar No 1.
Indeed, the Polestar 1 is, as its name suggests, the first car that will be produced but will be quickly joined by two other models: Polestar 2 and Polestar 3.
The Polestar 2 should be 100% electric and should integrate into the sedan market. Production could begin in late 2019, according to a Polestar press release.
The Polestar 3 would it be an SUV that would come between these first two Polestar in terms of performance and price.
Regarding the price, according to some information, Polestar No 1 should display a price around $ 200,000.
Seeing the images proposed by Polestar of this Polestar 1, we can easily see several traits of resemblance to the Volvo Concept Coupe presented in 2013.
With this first model, Polestar is positioned as a serious competitor in the market of high performance electric cars. Case to be followed in the coming months with the next models.
Pre-order it now!
You can now pre-order your Polestar 1. Contact us and we will give you all the information about it.
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